First Agility Class! Jack is a good boy, we have a blast, but Jack does get attacked by a poodle
After much delay, we finally had our first agility class tonight! Jack was so good, I'm so proud of him! We spent the first 40 minutes doing ground work, and to be fair it's all stuff Jack and I have worked on before, so he was a star. We did sit/stay off the left and right, then the handler runs forward a few steps before releasing the dog with "ok!" to come running up next to you. We did restrained recalls and some other stuff.
It was during the restrained recall that the standard poodle went for Jack. We were some distance behind her, and Jack wasn't even paying attention to her. She kept turning around to try to see Jack, but I didn't think much of it. The trainer held her for the restrained recall, the handler ran ahead and said "OK!", the trainer released the poodle...... and the poodle spun around and charged straight towards Jack. She bit him on the arse, he yipped and tried to get away, the trainer maneuvered the poodle away but she got loose again and bit Jack on the behind a second time before things got back under control. I don't think she broke skin (thank goodness for heavy Corgi coats!) but she did spit out a mouthful of fluff and Jack spent the next 10 minutes of class trying to run to my husband (outside the fence) for comfort. *sigh* Ah well, these things happen and as long as no puncture wounds show up, things'll be fine; Jack is socialized enough that one threatening dog won't bother him in the long run. It was sort of strange because many times, even dog-aggressive dogs like Jack, but this one spent the entire rest of the class eye-balling him. Needless to say, poodle had to spend the entire class on a long lead. After we were done, we did several walk-by's and then I kept Jack on a sit by my side while the poodle and her handler walked around us a few times. I don't know what set her off; I joked that she must have thought he was someone else.
Back to agility: We also did a couple low jumps (Jack's already jumped before so he was very good at this). And we did the tunnel! That was the best part. She started it short but kept lengthening it til we did it full-length. Jack loves him some tunnel. The trainer laughed at the end of class and commented on how enthusiastic he is, and I said he's like that about everything. He's my guy. I think we'll have fun as long as the poodle can sort out her issues.
It was during the restrained recall that the standard poodle went for Jack. We were some distance behind her, and Jack wasn't even paying attention to her. She kept turning around to try to see Jack, but I didn't think much of it. The trainer held her for the restrained recall, the handler ran ahead and said "OK!", the trainer released the poodle...... and the poodle spun around and charged straight towards Jack. She bit him on the arse, he yipped and tried to get away, the trainer maneuvered the poodle away but she got loose again and bit Jack on the behind a second time before things got back under control. I don't think she broke skin (thank goodness for heavy Corgi coats!) but she did spit out a mouthful of fluff and Jack spent the next 10 minutes of class trying to run to my husband (outside the fence) for comfort. *sigh* Ah well, these things happen and as long as no puncture wounds show up, things'll be fine; Jack is socialized enough that one threatening dog won't bother him in the long run. It was sort of strange because many times, even dog-aggressive dogs like Jack, but this one spent the entire rest of the class eye-balling him. Needless to say, poodle had to spend the entire class on a long lead. After we were done, we did several walk-by's and then I kept Jack on a sit by my side while the poodle and her handler walked around us a few times. I don't know what set her off; I joked that she must have thought he was someone else.
Back to agility: We also did a couple low jumps (Jack's already jumped before so he was very good at this). And we did the tunnel! That was the best part. She started it short but kept lengthening it til we did it full-length. Jack loves him some tunnel. The trainer laughed at the end of class and commented on how enthusiastic he is, and I said he's like that about everything. He's my guy. I think we'll have fun as long as the poodle can sort out her issues.
Comment
-
Comment by Carol Rea on June 19, 2010 at 11:46pm
-
I'm 2 weeks late to the blog. I hope Jack continues to do well and have fun in spite of the poodle! Tell Jack that we don't like poodles either.
-
Comment by Bev Levy on June 5, 2010 at 8:00am
-
Sounds like fun and good for you and Jack! Years ago our instructor said she thinks some dogs do not respond well to unusual looking dogs like corgis. I am glad they kept her on a lead after that.
-
Comment by Beth on June 4, 2010 at 10:06pm
-
Jack loves it. He loves to work, and he can be very focused (which is bad when what he is focused on is another handler's treat bag! lol). Had he been placed in a home with a more experienced owner/handler than myself he could have gone very far, very fast. But he has a good life here with us and we try to keep him occupied.
As for the poodle, she ignored the other dogs completely, but there were only two others, both female and both quite shy/submissive. I get the feeling she just focused like a laser on the most confident dog on the class. If I had to guess after knowing her for such a short time, I'd say she's extremely status-seeking and Jack just annoyed her for being his happy-go-lucky self. He was a bit frazzled by it at first, but after he realized life was going on as before, he was ok. I think that's where extensive socialization is so important, because he's able to put it in the context of the hundreds of other uneventful dog-to-dog encounters he's had before.
-
Comment by Sky and Lyla on June 4, 2010 at 9:55pm
-
Oh how fun (other than than the poodle, of course). I'm glad you and Jack got to have some fun in Agility. Sky and I had a blast when we did it. Sky was the naughty one in that class, he would snark at the instructor's dog every single time he walked by. =/ Tell Jack for me that I've never liked poodles anyway!
-
Comment by Jane Christensen on June 4, 2010 at 9:54pm
-
Way to go Jack (and Beth)! Bomb proof must be right for Jack to not let the poodle affect him! I wonder if the poodle will make it in this class, if it were me...I would wondering if it belongs there! Once Livvy learned the tunnel she also loved it unfortunatley she did not love all the other dogs and was always watching to see if they were too close to her! Have a great time...i know you've been talking about this for a long time!
-
Comment by Carla on June 4, 2010 at 9:17pm
-
The tunnel is great fun. We did recalls through the tunnel in my puppy class, and in the second puppy class I took (which was an intro agility class/advanced puppy class) she added the chute on the end. Casey just loved to go through, and when the dogs had free play time, Casey would run back and forth through the tunnel over and over again like a fool. I wish the nice long ones weren’t so expensive or I’d buy one for our backyard.
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
You need to be a member of MyCorgi.com to add comments!
Join MyCorgi.com